My client moved into a high rise apartment with an ocean view. She is decorating, incorporating the work of some of the artisans at Crafted. I agreed to make a whole cloth custom quilt for her master bedroom. Another artist is hand painting an abstract coral reef wall mural over the bed, so we started there...
We began with aqua and coral colored fabrics. I sourced some of my favorite fabric stores and selected a range of solid samples. My favorites were the shot cottons. The aqua had a green cross weave and I paired it with a coral shot cotton for the backing. I loved them but they didn't speak to my client. She suggested batiks, which completely threw me for a loop. Batiks!!!
I sourced some of the batiks she had suggested and added a few that I thought might work. We reviewed them at her office and chose two. Both by the same manufacturer, so off I skipped (yes, I been known to skip) to place the order. Oh, I forgot to mention that this quilt measures 116" wide by 136" long! I needed 12 continuous yards of each fabric. To make a long story short, the top fabric choice had been retired and the most that I could find anywhere was 9 yards. I searched everywhere (physical and online) and 12 yards of the top fabric could not be found. So back to square one...
Finally, we met on a Saturday morning at one of my favorite fabric warehouses. My plan was not to leave without nailing the fabric choices down. We did! Found a beautiful sand washed grey-blue batik and it coordinated perfectly with a print batik from a different manufacturer. They are the two on the right in the above photo. I am now a batik expert and have a new found love and respect for them. Amazing fabric!
How do you free motion quilt a 116" by 136" quilt on a home machine? Reminds me of the riddle: How do two porcupines mate? Answer: Very carefully. So, I quilted it carefully using a pattern that reminds me of coral reef and ocean waves.
Beautiful. I'll show you more later - after it's been delivered. It took four large spools of thread to quilt it and it's ready for the binding.
Look how nicely my new pillowcases work with it - gorgeous!
Also, I'm looking for sponsors. There were many fabric stores, manufactures, and wholesalers involved in this project, so if you would like to be linked in future projects - sponsor me!
What project have you taken on lately that stretched you way, way, way outside of your comfort zone?
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